Injury prevention education in United States medical school curricula.
BACKGROUND
In 1993, representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that a national injury control training plan be developed that would encourage education about injuries and injury prevention in the required curricula of medical schools.


METHODS
A mail survey of curriculum officers was conducted to identify the availability of, characteristics of, and support for educational opportunities in injury prevention at medical schools in the United States.


RESULTS
Eighty-seven medical schools (70.2%) responded. Forty-one (47.1%) covered injury prevention in their required curricula. Twenty-six (29.9%) offered nonclinical elective opportunities on injury prevention subjects. In medical schools associated with trauma centers, injury prevention information was almost four times more likely to be included in the required curricula.


CONCLUSIONS
Educational opportunities for medical students in injury prevention are limited. Trauma centers appear to support these efforts at their medical school affiliates.
Wright
M S
MS
Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. msw5@po.cwru.edu
Litaker
D G
DG
D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D009935:Organizational Affiliation; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012581:Schools, Public Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*